Golf-club.



J. W. PROVAN.

GOLF CLUB.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 2, 1912.

Patented Aug. 26, 1913.

LW EAMQ [VITA 55155.-

A TTORNEV.

UNITED STATES PATENT oEEIcE.

GOLF-013W;

Specification of Letters-Patent.

AppHcation'fi-led Kprilfi, 1912. Serial No; 687,962.

To aZlw/wm it may concern Be it known: that Eda-MES- PRovAN,

of the town of-Oshawa,-in the Province of @ntario, @anadmhave-invented certain new and useful Improvements in' Golf-Clubs, of-

holding of the club are of special importance. These are, accuracy of alinement, and security of grasp: 'lhat is-to say, the shaft must be held'so=that the face ofthe head bears a certain angular relationship to the grasp of the hand, otherwise'the ball will not be struck fairly, and the shaft must-not twist in the hands or pull through them when the ball'is struck, otherwise the advantage of the original accurate alinementis at once lost.-

In the ordinary club, accuracy of aline ment depends entirely on the judgment of the player, and security of grip depends on the firmness of his grasp aided, perhaps, by a little wax.

My object, therefore, is to devise a form of grip for a golf club whichwill give accurate a'line ment independent of the players eyeand by the sense of feeling, and which will give the desired'security of grasp.

I am aware that attempts have been made to fit the grip to the hands of the user, or to provide protuberances to give security of grasp, but such constructions either com pletely deprive the player of his freedom to shift his grip up or down the grip portion of the shaft, or cramp'himwhen the hands need to relax their rigid correctness of position, at the top of the backward swing, or give no sense of correct alinement by feelmg.

I attain my object by providing the grip with a series of uniform transverse linger grooves, formed at one side of the upper part of the grip portion of the shaft, to receive the terminal phalanges of the fingers of the upper hand only, at variable positions along the shaft the said grooves being sub stantially straight in the direction of their length, and curved longitudinally of the shaft. I place the grooves onthe side of the shaft in such relation to the driving face of the club, that they will give the club its correct alinement. l also make the grooves,

lpreferabl'y, six in number, allowing the player full benefit of the use of the grooves with either a long or short gri of the club. i'lhe rooves being substantial y straight in T the direction of their length will prevent the club fromturning in'the hand-and also prevent the club from slipping through the hand. This improved. grip is adapted for iplayers using the favorite overlap grip as well as for players continuing to use the ordinary open grip.

The'upper hand is the controlling hand ';in holding the club' in alinement, and as only the terminal phalanges of that hand rest in the grooves, the sense of correct alinement by feeling'is obtained by that part of the hand which possesses the most delicate sense of touch and also sufficient power to accomplish the object desired, leaving a necessary amount of freedom for the other parts of the said upper hand, ,while the lower hand is unrestrained in any way.

To obtain the most satisfactory results I find it necessary to have the center of that portion between the grooves about oneeighth of an inch above the line of the normal circumference of the grip, in which case it is impracticable to carve out the grooves in the wood of-shafts already made, hence I make a plate, preferably of aluminum on account of its lightness, hardness, and du- 'rability, on which 1 form the grooves, which plate is placed securely on the shaftand under the wrapping, as shown in the drawings, Ifind that aluminum can be cast sufficiently thin for my purpose, with perfectly uniform and correctly formed grooves, a result unattainable by individual carving, and at less cost of production.

In the accompanying drawings: Figure 1. is an elevation of the club with the head turned somewhat toward the observer to bring the special grip into side elevation. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section of the grip portion of the shaft on an enlarged scale. Fig. 3 is a front elevation on the same scale as Fig. 2, and Fig. 4 an end view with the grip in section.

In the drawings, like numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts in the different figures.

Referring to Figfl I show an iron head 1 and 'a shaft 2 of ordinary form save for a special configuration given to the grip portion 3. The grip 3, while mainly substantially circular in cross section and tapered and to secure the plate to theshaft.

as usual is provided toward its rear side with a plurality of transverse grooves 4: which are substantially straight in the direction of their length and preferably curved longitudinally of the shaft. The direction of the length of these grooves is inclined at an angle of between 30 and 40 toward a plane touching the lower edge of the face of the head and substantially parallel to the axis of the shaft, see Fig.4. (For most players 33 will be found to be the right angle). Thus, when the terminal phalanges of the fingers of the upper hand engage properly on the fiat bottoms of the grooves, the shaft is then so'related to the grasp that the head is exactly at the proper angle for the stroke.

It should be noted that correct alinement can be obtained if two grooves only are straight in the direction of their length, say those for the middle and ring fingers only, but as at different times it is desirable to be able to play with a long or short club, it is preferable to make allthe grooves straight and to make then five or sixin member, so that the grip may be grasped closer to or farther from the head as may be desired.

While the shaft itself, if thick enough, might be curved to the desired shape, itis simpler to form the grooves in a separate plate 5, say of aluminum or hard rultzlgeg,

e Figs. 2, 3 and 4). Afterward the plate and shaft may be wrapped in the ordinary way, as shown in Fig. 1.

In fitting up a club according to my invention, the shaftwill first be fitted to the head with the natural spring in the right direction. The club will then be laid on a flat surface, (see Fig. 4), and by means of any suitable tool the correct angle for the plate is laid out. The shaft is then suitably flattened to receive the plate which is secured in place as shown and subsequently wrapped.

In using the club as hereinbefore mentioned, the terminal phalanges of the fingers, or at any rate of the middle and ring fingers of the upper hand lie flat in the grooves so that the shaft occupies a pre determined position in the hand which automatically gives the correct alinement for the head. It is evident, also, that as the finger ends of the upper hand lie in grooves that the grip will not pull through the hands and the resistance to the twisting of the grip in the hands is greatly increased. As the notches make it impossible to grasp the club except in certain predetermined positions, the player can always be sure that he is securing the effective length of club which his experience tells him is best for a certain lay.

p At the top of a backward swing the hands must have liberty to. change somewhat from the position they assume when the ball is struck. In this club the hands may shift as much as may be necessary without the terminal phalanges of the fingers losing theirposition in the grooves, so that at all times the feeling of alinement is given.

What I claim as my invention is 1. A golf club having a series of uniform transverse finger grooves formed at one side of the upper part of the grip portion of the shaft to receive the terminal phalanges of the fingers of the upper hand at variable positions along the shaft, the said grooves being substantially straight in the direction of their length and curved longitudinally of the shaft.

2. A golf club having a plate applied to one side of the grip-portion of the shaft, said plate having a series of uniform trans verse finger grooves formed therein to receive the terminal phalanges of the fingers of the upper hand at variable positions along the shaft, the said grooves being substantially straight in the direction of their length, and a wrapping of flexible material bound over said grip portion and the plate. Dated at-Toronto this 30th day of March,

JAMES W. PBOVAN. Signed in the presence of- J. EDw. MAYBEE, E. P. HALL. 

